Businesses seek cut in garbage fees

The Savannah City Council got stuck Thursday between some groups wanting more money and others looking to pay less.

Some large business interests in the city are lobbying the council hard for a reduction in the fees they are required to pay to dump their garbage at the city's incinerator.

Meanwhile, the Coastal Jazz Association showed up at the council's budget workshop wanting more money, but they didn't even get a chance to speak.

Businesses have been working on the fee issue for a couple of months. They have to pay these fees even if the businesses have private haulers that could take the garbage elsewhere for less.

"We are seeking a way that we can get out from under this fee," said Joe Rosenblum, director of facilities for real estate group Kole Management Co. His company pays about $70,000 a year to dump its garbage, not including additional fees to collect it.

The Carey Hilliard's restaurant group pays about $65,000 a year, and Memorial Health University Medical Center pays nearly $250,000, according to Trip Tollison, vice president of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce.

They are calling it a "trash tax," although officially it is a fee - and the chamber points to a 1998 memo by City Manager Michael Brown that the fee should be removed this year. That year, the fee was implemented as an incentive to make sure the incinerator got enough garbage to generate the steam the city was selling.

"It is anticipated that disposal system costs will come down after the (incinerator) debt is retired," Brown wrote, "and such saving can be passed on to waste generators through fee reductions."

That debt is due to be paid off this month, and businesses want their fee reductions. But none was budgeted.

However, business owners met with council members to press their case for a 20 percent reduction. The council, in turn, pressed Brown on Tuesday. A 20 percent reduction would cost the city $1.49 million next year, something Brown said would hurt the budget too much.

He promised to come back in about two weeks with a new proposal that might give businesses a 10 percent reduction. City staff said a cut to business will not mean that residential garbage fees will go up.

The city has to be careful because cutting out businesses, which generate 40 percent of the garbage, might make the incinerator ineffective in the future, city staff said. The city might renovate the incinerator so it can provide electricity.

Before the council got into garbage, they dove into cultural arts funding for the year. Members of the Coastal Jazz Association came en mass to fight for more funding.

The Cultural Affairs Commission recommended that funding for the group be cut by about $16,000 this year. City Council members didn't stand for that and reinstated the funding, with the understanding that the group must have more diverse and high-quality acts during the annual Jazz Festival and attract people from outside Savannah.

Alderman Edna Jackson said Mayor Otis Johnson, who was out of town, has said the city should cap the Savannah Music Festival's funding at $150,000 for subsequent years.

Last year, the city gave the festival $95,000, and this year it requested $150,000.

Jackson said the idea was not to run out of money for other cultural events. She also said other events the city funds are totally open to the public.

Last year, the council capped the Black Heritage Festival at $150,000.

But capping the music festival permanently did not go over well with the rest of council. Most wanted to see a temporary cap while urging festival organizers to expand marketing nationally to help make the festival bigger.